Sarah Janzen's Papers and Presentations

This paper's model of consumption and asset accumulation shows that a hybrid social protection policy, which devotes resources to funding “state of the world contingent transfers” (SWCTs) to vulnerable, but non-poor households in the wake of negative shocks, can result in lower rates of poverty in the medium term than does a conventional cash transfer policy.

This study evaluates the short-term (1.5 year) impacts of a multifaceted livestock transfer and training program in rural Nepal using a randomized control trial (RCT). Findings show that the program significantly increased financial inclusion and women’s empowerment after 1.5 years.

This study evaluates the short-term (1.5 year) impacts of a multifaceted livestock transfer and training program in rural Nepal using a randomized control trial (RCT). Results show that the program significantly increased financial inclusion and women’s empowerment after 1.5 years for both direct beneficiaries and those brought into the program via its "pay-it-forward" component.

This paper builds a multi-generation household model of consumption, accumulation, and risk management to assess the dynamic consequences of climate risk exposure. The analysis shows the long-term level and depth of poverty can be improved by incorporating ‘vulnerability-targeted social protection’ into a conventional social protection system.

The lack and drive of aspiration has gained the attention of economists as a behavioral constraint to future-oriented behavior and investment. The research team explores the empirical evidence relating to aspirations and determine if the social phenomenon can stimulate development or reinforce poverty.

This paper investigates asset insurance into a theoretical poverty trap model to evaluate the aggregate impact of insurance access on chronic and transitory poverty. The research team uses dynamic stochastic programming methods to decompose two mechanisms through which a competitive asset insurance market might alter long-term poverty dynamics.

To cope with shocks, poor households with inadequate access to ﬁnancial markets can sell assets to smooth consumption and ,or reduce consumption to protect assets. Utilizing data from an RCT in Kenya, this paper estimates that on average an innovative microinsurance scheme reduces both forms of costly coping.

Social protection programs are designed to help vulnerable populations—including pastoralists—maintain a basic level of wellbeing, manage risk, and cope with negative shocks. The research team uses evidence-based to understand the poverty dynamics in the pastoralist-based economy of northern Kenya’s arid and semi arid lands as a case study to discuss and compare the observed impacts of two different social protection schemes on heterogeneous pastoralist households.